Twilight Rewrite
by rmahran
Summary: It's a re-write. And a lot is going to be changed. A LOT.
1. Chapter 1

**Preface**

I never would have imagined that I would die like this. I knew I was putting myself in danger, but I never really gave much thought about my death.

Despite my grief that everything I gotten used to, everything I was blessed with, everything that I had come to love and accept will now come to an end, I could not bring myself to regret anything. It was a sad end to what was a beautiful dream, but it was a beautiful experience all the same. I can only take comfort in the fact that I'm dying for him. Surely dying in the place of someone else, whom I loved...surely it was a good, noble thing. That was a comforting thought. As terrified as I was now, I had no regrets. I could not bring myself to regret anything.

I stare across the long room. The dark, evil eyes of the hunter meet mine. I can feel his deadly energy disturbing my calm. Menacingly, he smiles at me as he saunters forwards to kill me.

It's too late to run now...

* * *

Okay, it's important when you comment, you comment in terms of literary critiquing. Style, diction, emotional flow...all those things. :)


	2. Chapter 2

My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. I remember it clearly- it was seventy five degrees in Phoenix. The sky a magnificent, cloudless blue. On my way, I savored the bright sunshine through the window, the blazing heat on my face and the wind through my hair for the last time.

I loved Phoenix. I loved living under the bright sun, the blistering heat, the ambitious, energetic city. I loved the abounding, dynamic energy. I desperately wanted to stay here. I didn't want to go to Forks. I was not ready. Was it too late to tell my mother that I changed my mind and wanted to stay after all...?

"Jane*," my mom finally said to me at the boarding gate. "You don't have to leave, honey. You can stay with Phil and I. I'm sure your dad will understand."

I looked into my mother's eyes. My poor, sweet, slightly harebrained mother- how could I possibly leave her to fend for herself? Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in the car and someone to get lost, so she was safe. Still, I was used to taking care of all these tasks. Now that I'm leaving, I'm going to miss this routine and sense of responsibility that I'd gotten so used to. Still, I had to convince myself what I was doing was what was best for my mom, what was best for all of us. I had to make the move to Forks.

"I want to go." I put on my bravest, most convincing smile. I'd always been a bad liar, but I'd been saying this lie so frequently I even started to believe it, and eventually even my mom just dropped it, seeing as she couldn't change my mind. "Honest, mom, I do."

My mom smiled sadly. She took her hands in mine and sighed, looking into my eyes for the last time. "Promise me you'll e-mail me..."

"Mom, I promise..."

"...and call me as soon as you reach Charlie's place. There should be phone in your room..."

"I'll call, Mom."

"Okay." She sighed resignedly. "Tell your father I said hi."

"Okay, mom."

"Look, you can come home and visit us anytime. Okay?"

"Okay, mom, I will do. I love you, mom."

We hugged each other tightly for a minute, before she slowly, reluctantly let me go. "Take care of yourself, Jane. Listen to your father, okay?"

I wanted to cry. I wanted to cling to my mother and say that I didn't want to go, that I wanted to stay, that I wanted to go back home and unpack. Again, not too late to change my mind...

"Mom, I'll be fine. It'll be great. I'll meet new friends, go to a new school, finally spend some time with Charlie, and...it'll all be just amazing, mom. I love you..."' I stifled a sob, trying to hold the tears back, "...and if everything doesn't work out, you'll find another job soon so I can come back as fast as I can, and everything will be back to normal..."

She saw the tears rising in my eyes, and gave me one last hug. With my head on her shoulder, and her arms embracing me for the last time, I heard her voice say in my ear,

"Jane, you are a very special girl. Remember who loves you for who you are. Remember to keep in touch with them, because you never know when you could lose them." She sighed, clutching me even harder, afraid to let her baby girl go. "And I want you to remember that...no matter what happens..." I heard her trying to hold back a sob, "I will always love you, Jane..."

After a final, emotional embrace with tears from both of us, I slowly let go of her and walked towards the gate. I turn around one final time, to see my mom standing there, watching me until I was finally out of sight, tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. I wiped my own tears, gave one last goodbye smile and wave as I entered the tunnel to board the plane.

* * *

*Yeah, guys, I'm going to change Bella's name to Jane for two very good reasons:

1) Jane is a plain name, therefore an unbiased one. Bella has too many connotations like 'Beautiful' and 'That girl from Twilight."

2) The whole 'falling in love with the Byronic hero' thing is from Jane Eyre from the novel. Stephanie Meyer originally decided to name the character 'Bella because she going to name her own daughter that, except she had a son. Ergo, 'Bella' has no real literary significance. Also, 'not Bella' Jane is supposed to be this independent, fiery spirit, whereas Bella is basically SUPPOSED to be that but is a stubborn, antisocial woman who only has no friends because she refuses to accept anyone who isn't a pretty vampire with high moral standards.


	3. Chapter 3

I sat in my assigned seat and put my parka under it. Thankfully, it was right next to the window, so during the next four hours I could stare out the window, watch the clouds as we pass over them, and let my own thoughts and emotions absorb me.

It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane on a transfer flight to Port Angeles, and then yet another hour back down to Forks with Charlie. I was already familiar with the flights and time it took to get there. In fact, I knew the place all too well; I spent a month every summer with him in this cold, remote town and its gloomy, grim overcast until I was fourteen. I knew that it is one of the rainiest places in the United States of America. I knew that in addition to the rain, the foliage also engulfed the town, providing abundant, constant shade from any sunlight that shone through. It was all so different from the Phoenix I loved and grew up in: the warmth, the earthy brown hues of valleys in juxtaposition with the bright blue sky all across the horizon. Forks was so different: so damp and dreary and desolate. I detested Forks. I never liked it; at fourteen, I finally put my foot down. Since then, for the past three years, every summer Charlie vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead. Now I find myself going back to Forks back to Charlie.

I thought about Charlie for awhile. He had been genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time since my mom escaped with me a few months after I was born. He'd even gotten me registered for a high school and was going to help me get a car when I arrived. To tell the truth though, it'd be a much more exciting for me if I'd really known Charlie. We never became close to each other: we don't have anything in common, we never bonded, we never shared much quality time together, and when we did, it usually entailed awkward silences and small talk. We weren't talkative or expressive people, and there wasn't much to talk about. I figured if I spent time with him, maybe we'd develop a bond. On the other hand, on every vacation I've spent with Charlie, nothing ever really happened.

After two uneventful flights, I finally got my luggage and left the airport. When I looked outside, it was raining in Port Angeles. I sighed at the unavoidable; I'd already let the sun embrace me one last time. I lugged my suitcase wistfully and left the airport, looking for Charlie and the cruiser. When I spotted him, I walked towards him. He gave me an awkward, one-armed hug and then offered to load my luggage in the car.

"It's good to see you, Janey," he said with a grunt as he put the bag down in the trunk. He was wearing his police uniform. My father, Charlie Swan, was the Chief of Police in this small, isolated town of Forks, and has been ever since he moved here.

I smiled at him politely. "It's good to see you too, Dad."


	4. Chapter 4

After unloading what little luggage I had into Charlie's cruiser, I got in the passenger's seat. I would have rather sat in the driver's seat and slept to avoid too much conversation with Charlie, but I didn't want to look like a criminal in the back seat. I strapped in and just looked ahead of me, staring into the cold, grey space ahead of me as Charlie drove on in silence.

As depressingly cold and remote as this place was, I had to admit it was beautiful. Everything was green: the branches of trees hanging with a canopy of it, filtering what little light came through the clouds in green, their trunks covered in moss and the ground covered in ferns and grass. It was a strange beauty: it was eerie, desolate, dark. Beyond the roads, the scene stretched over the mountains, mysterious and wild like it was from a Gothic style novel. I remembered my trip to the airport in Arizona: rolling the window down, feeling the warm sunshine on my face, the wind running through my hair. I suddenly wondered, if I rolled the windows down here, how bitterly cold the air was, especially without the warmth of the sun.

"So, how is Arizona?"

It hurt to remember Arizona right now. Instead of going into detail, I brushed it aside, saying,

"It's fine. Mom says hi."

"Well, good of her. Tell her I said hi."

"Sure."

The silence carried on for a few moments. I simply continued to stare out the window into the wild forest landscape that went by, stretching out on either side of the road.

"By the way," Charlie said, cheerfully, "I have a little surprise for you back home." He smiled at me.

I perked up; that was a piece of good news. Maybe this would be a good day.

"Oh," I sounded excited, "How big a surprise?"

"Let's just say it's a truck load," he smiled at his own joke. "And I got her for a pretty good deal, too."

A few weeks ago, I'd told Charlie that I'd needed a car so that I didn't have to walk in the cold and rain to school. He offered to drive me, but I'd just gotten my driver's license. Besides, I was the new kid. I do not want to be taken back and forth from school in a cruiser. Besides, nothing slows down traffic like a police car.

Now, apparently, he'd not only gotten me a car, but a truck. I pretended to not already figure out what the surprise was, but seeing as I was still excited, it wasn't difficult. Despite myself, I was excited. I did get a truck.

"Where did you get the 'surprise' from?" I asked Charlie, trying to get more information on exactly the type of truck I was getting.

"Well," Charlie looked sheepish, "I got this from a friend."

"Oh, yeah? Is this friend anyone I know?"

"Remember Billy? We used to go fishing with him down at La Push. Well...it was kind of a homecoming gift for you from us, Janey." He smiled. "And I have a feeling you're really going to like it."

"Oh, I guess we'll see."

We continued staring out the windows in silence on the way to Charlie's home. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother only awhile after they were married.

Charlie smiled at me. "Wanna go see your homecoming gift before you get unpacked?" He gestured, and lo behold- there, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my homecoming present- an old truck. a faded red color, with big fenders and a bulbous cab. Despite how old it looked, I loved it. I could see myself in this truck.

"What do you think?" Charlie said, somewhat embarrased .

"Wow, dad, this is awesome! Thanks!" I was so glad I had something to drive to school in.

The bedroom that faces out over the front yard was the room I'd stayed in whenever I came to visit Charlie. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellow lace curtains around the window, the rocking chair from my baby days- these were all a part of my summers with Charlie. The only changes made in this room were switching the crib for a bed as I grew, and adding a desk before I moved in. My brand new desk now held a second-hand computer and a phone line for the modem stapled on the floor to the nearest phone jack, so that my mom could call me.

Charlie has left me alone for awhile so that I could unpack and get settled. I sat on the bed, exhausted, and stared out the window into the ever-grey sky.


End file.
